4WD vs Auto 4x4

[ndtim]

What are situations you use 4x4 vs auto?

For me....

Auto is for a lot of winter/snow driving when there is snow/patchy ice on city streets or highways. If its dry, I obviously use 2H.

I only use 4x4 if in "constant" deep snow or mud.

What about glare ice on the freeway/interstate? What do most of you use?

What about on a highway or gravel road where there is freshly fallen snow that has stayed on the road, and "wheel tracks" are forming?

Are those Auto or 4x4 situations for you?

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[Buyer2021]

I use Auto whenever there is rain or even the threat of occasional patches of wet pavement following rain. I don't hesitate to use Auto when predominantly on dry pavement if I think I may encounter a 'loose' condition.

I've only switched to 4L / 4H to occasionally 'exercise' the system on wet pasture grass or slick gravel / dirt / mud; Auto is my normal 'go-to' whenever I felt the need for traction in those situations and has never failed to do the job.

Living in a region of Texas where snow and ice are a rare occurrence and most folks (including myself) aren't familiar with that situation (and being retired so I'm able to forego driving when it snows) I simply avoid getting out on the roads among the crazies when that happens.

 

[Kodiak]

What are situations you use 4x4 vs auto?

What about glare ice on the freeway/interstate? What do most of you use?

If you are talking about black ice where the road was wet, then temps dropped fast and froze, with more precipitation adding to the ice sheet, then the best thing you can do is 4x, drive straight and slow, or better yet get off the road.

Black ice looks like just a wet road but it is the slickest ice you can drive on. Even 4x may not help you if you do not know how to drive on this ice. Even if you do know how to drive on this ice, it may not help you no matter what you are driving.

 

[Pedaldude]

My old Lincoln is only 4A and I’m fine with that. The system is really good at behaving itself in the dry, when there’s plenty of traction, as well as in light rain; where the traction is both limited and intermittent slick spots where oil has built up from weeks of rain free weather.

definitely exercise the actuator once a month as stated in the manual but for most situations, you can pretty much set it and forget it on 4A. The main exceptions being 4L and 4H on actual off-road applications where you can overheat the clutches in the 4A setting in stuff like sand or gravel. Even then, they still had some get burnt out during extreme use, so some Tremors and the Raptor will get their own TC that has a true part-time 4x4 that locks the axles together old school.

I’ve had enough crazy shit happen on perfectly nice days where there’s ideal conditions but then there’s a patch of loose gravel spilled on a corner, or some dickhead left their hose on and watered the street, a transmission cooler on an old jalopy spewed ATF everywhere, or a water main broke and created a sinkhole; that I would just leave 4A on all the time for the moment that you need to power out of a bad traction situation with your front wheels, instead of being left with just steering and brakes.

 

[js312]

I use 4A whenever there's any snow/ice. Sometimes in rain.

I rarely use 4H - sometimes if there's a lot of snow I will for a while.

I've only legitimately used 4L once - I sank a dump trailer in the mud, so I used 4L + the rear locker to get it out.

 

[jcaspar]

From my understanding, it is somewhat necessary with the Powerboost to use 4A in slick conditions as in 2H the regenerative braking only works thru the rear wheels which could lead to rear slipping and a spin.

 

[powerboatr]

over 90% of time its in 4A, been that way in my last 150s and expedition
2h maybe on long highway drive unless weather is expected.
its not AWD, but its pretty close imo

 

[JIMFOUNTAIN]

From my understanding, it is somewhat necessary with the Powerboost to use 4A in slick conditions as in 2H the regenerative braking only works thru the rear wheels which could lead to rear slipping and a spin.

Yes. There was a lot of forum traffic on this in early 2021. "Unsafe" etc. Fishtailing and loss of control on snow. Possibly.

But to maximize truck performance the operator should select modes appropriate for conditions. On normal dry roads I want/expect max regen braking and I get that in "Normal "and "Eco". On a slippery road I switch to "slippery" and get gentle regen braking... even with 4A. Also what I want/expect.

So it seems to be working as engineered. Not to say all this is obvious. Early in the ownership cycle I was off road and approaching some serious mud. Punched 4H and locked the diff. Loosing momentum so pressed on accelerator. Traction control (TC) cut power and I got stuck. Learned that I have to pick "Mud" or turn off TC. Did the same thing about a year later in soft sand at the beach. Some of us are slow learners

 

[amschind]

So during the last ice storm, TXDOT went full up Massachusetts and salted the earth harder than the Romans did to Carthage. The roads and my truck were a dingy gray-white. I was never tempted to push it out of 2H, and that's the closest that I'll get to needing 4A. I prefer this because I like being able to lock all of my wheels together, and wasn't keen on doing the full Raptor HiLock transfer case upgrade unless I was going to use it. If I were a state or two North, I would feel different, but as it stands I am happy with SOF transfer case.

 

[notabot]

For the OP - I use 4 Auto on wet/slippery asphalt and concrete. I use 4L or 4H (sometimes with locker) retrieving the boat and trailer from the water. In deep, very loose sugar sand I'll use 4L or 4H.

If you are talking about black ice where the road was wet, then temps dropped fast and froze, with more precipitation adding to the ice sheet, then the best thing you can do is 4x, drive straight and slow, or better yet get off the road.

Black ice looks like just a wet road but it is the slickest ice you can drive on. Even 4x may not help you if you do not know how to drive on this ice. Even if you do know how to drive on this ice, it may not help you no matter what you are driving.

I grew up in snow country and can drive the wheels off just about anything in the snow/slippery stuff. Black ice is totally different. I had an AWD work van and caught a stretch of that evel stuff on a highway overpass. Complete loss of effective input on all control surfaces.

I love your suggestion of "get off the road"!

 

[eharri3]

I do not use 4wd in rain, I drive with appropriate caution to avoid spinning out. I have never in 2 decades driving pickups felt the need for 4wd in rain and honestly don't understand what people think it does for them.

My main use for 4A would be in snow storms when there is long patches of dry ground between patches of snow and I don't have to think about switching back and fourth to protect the drivetrain. I tried to get a Lariat with it but it didn't work out so I continue with part time 4wd in my XLT which I really am fine with and have always been fine with for the entire time I've been driving.

 

[notabot]

honestly don't understand what people think it does for them.

Using AWD/4WD full time can double the amount of traction you can get. Glad to see you have the issue 100% settled for you.

 

[eharri3]

Using AWD/4WD full time can double the amount of traction you can get. Glad to see you have the issue 100% settled for you.

I guess if the comfort blanket feels good for you. People have said stuff like this to me on other boards and I can't process it no matter how many times I hear it. Wet pavement is not a loose surface, if you're doing things to break traction on it you're better off not doing them than using 4wd auto to fix it.

 

[ryanc111]

Yes. There was a lot of forum traffic on this in early 2021. "Unsafe" etc. Fishtailing and loss of control on snow. Possibly.

But to maximize truck performance the operator should select modes appropriate for conditions. On normal dry roads I want/expect max regen braking and I get that in "Normal "and "Eco". On a slippery road I switch to "slippery" and get gentle regen braking... even with 4A. Also what I want/expect.

So it seems to be working as engineered. Not to say all this is obvious. Early in the ownership cycle I was off road and approaching some serious mud. Punched 4H and locked the diff. Loosing momentum so pressed on accelerator. Traction control (TC) cut power and I got stuck. Learned that I have to pick "Mud" or turn off TC. Did the same thing about a year later in soft sand at the beach. Some of us are slow learners

Definitely a Powerboost only thing but I have had situations in mixed conditions where running in 2H and the rear end gets loose due to the regen on the brakes. Usually coming to an intersection where the road is shaded (i.e. slippery) and it grabs a bit when I let off the accelerator and before braking. Adding weight to the bed helped dial that back but 4A has completely eliminated it.

 

[HammaMan]

If you have a 2022 and up TOD (lariat, king ranch, plat, limited), your entire driveline is always spinning. Leaving it in 4a is really the best approach. The only difference when 4a is pressed is that the transfer case will apply pressure to the clutch as needed. I'd be really surprised if you saw any difference (unless traction limited) between 4a and 2h. 4h just applies max force on the clutch but it can still slip. Raptor and tremor will fully lockup the transfer case in 4h, and will shut off the front driveline while in 2h.

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